Are you tired of pumpkin yet?

Because I'm not! But, I'm moving on to my next favorite seasonal flavor - gingerbread. My Grandma Vi used to send us big, soft gingerbread people at Christmas time that she made herself and decorated with raisin eyes and m&m buttons. By now you know that I'm not to be trusted with cookies that you roll out, cut, and decorate but I love all things gingerbread and I have a bunch of other gingerbread recipes ready to go. I'm trying to pace myself because I'm working out as much as I possibly can and tonight, I was in a baking mood after a long day at work. And, let's face it: If there are candy canes on the lamp posts of Monrovia and gingerbread lattes at Starbucks, it's time to get baking!

My decision to make this particular recipe started with some sour cream that I needed to use up. I was looking up chocolate sour cream cake recipes when I thought of gingerbread. I can't remember making a gingerbread recipe with sour cream before and I liked the looks of this one. I got my dry ingredients all measured out, had my eggs room temperature and when I pulled out my molasses, I only had a little more than 1/4 cup, not the 1/2 cup the recipe calls for. I added a little extra brown sugar (remember, it's just white sugar and molasses) to compensate. I also substituted 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat.

Happy Gingerbread Season to you!

Here's the recipe I used.

PS: If I were going to make a gingerbread house this year, it would look like this one in honor of the mid-century modern house that we're in the process of purchasing. Stay tuned for details!